Reflection Take Two

Having arrived in my office around 2:30 am on Monday morning, before departing again at 7:30 am on Thursday morning for Dawson City, I have had limited time to write about anything. For that I apologize, and I will promise to do better moving forward.  

As my Internet connection in Dawson seems to be working at this exact moment, here goes....

I am very happy to report that the emotional turmoil and the questioning gnawing at me as we said our goodbyes dissipated throughout the week I was back in Whitehorse. Despite still not having a home, and there still being snow on the ground, I was quickly reminded of how magical this place is. How easy it is to embrace a balanced quality of life and what incredible people live here. 

Spring has definitely arrived - although no one would guarantee winter is entirely over.  Over this past week, I have been watching the Preserve evolve from its winter glory. Seemingly overnight, the landscape has changed and the behaviour of the animals has changed (most days this week we've held meetings or I've done work while sunning

on the deck). The warm days and quite cold nights have made the melt go incredibly smoothly, and there are only 4 places on the Preserve where the road has crumbled a bit (creating spectacular "ditches" that are a bit fun to drive through). Problem flooding has been, for all intents and purposes, absent. Where we want the Preserve to flood, however, has also been going very well.

You know there are those moments when you just know you have made the right decision? Being able to do my work from the deck this week was one of them.  Watching the elk meander through their flooded paddock, eating away was another.  But neither of those came anywhere close to my Wednesday story.

Late on Wednesday evening, I was frantically trying to finish some work before packing for my early morning departure.  I was exhausted because I have already been affected by the increasing light - waking up early and staying up very late - not because I can't sleep, but rather because I can.  It was still so bright and so beautiful at 10:30 pm, I walked outside to take some photos and was startled by the most unbelievable noise.  It took me several moments to comprehend what it was and where it even came from. 

Both the moose and mule deer pastures are intended to flood each spring. I had heard that they became home to a spectacular assortment of birds, but I did not know what to expect. As I was standing there, a flock of trumpeter swans landed in the two pastures where they hunkered down for the evening. Following that incredible racket, they quietly began eating and resting, trying to make themselves as invisible as possible as I tried to get in closer and closer. Twice, I had driven about an hour south of Whitehorse to see the swans on the river, the first time seeing nothing, the second nor more than a handful several kilometres away.  I had no idea they would arrive in my backyard, and I am so incredible grateful I didn't miss them!

It was a magnificent moment, magical actually, and almost certainly not one that I will ever forget.